


The Unknown and the Perilous

by phoenixflight



Category: The Goblin Emperor - Katherine Addison
Genre: Awkwardness, First Time, Fluff and Smut, Loss of Virginity, Love Confessions, M/M, formal pronoun play, implied poly, nohecharei watching, teaching about sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:21:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22596217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixflight/pseuds/phoenixflight
Summary: The Emperor shifted in his chair like an uncertain child, glancing at his first nohecharei, who had taken their places for night duty hours previously. “It is… a delicate subject,” Maia said.“If we can assist you in any way,” Csevet began, “Your Serenity knows you need only ask and we are yours to command.”“No!” Maia exclaimed, so suddenly that everyone but Cala startled. “No,” he repeated, more softly, ears dipping low in embarrassment. “This is not something I - we could command. We could only ask and hope you know you have every right to refuse us.”Csevet felt his own brow furrowing and smoothed his expression back into impassivity. Edrehasivar’s discomfiture was making his own heart pound in sympathetic nerves. “We understand. In what way might we be of assistance?”Maia’s ears dipped even lower, and he squared his shoulders as if steeling himself for a fight. “As you know, our wedding is in ten days’ time. We… we have no experience in… carnal acts,” the words were bitten out brutally, “and we do not wish to… to hurt our wife, or offend her, through ignorance. So we would be grateful for any… advice you could offer us.”
Relationships: Csevet Aisava/Maia Drazhar
Comments: 33
Kudos: 102
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	The Unknown and the Perilous

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Piscaria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Piscaria/gifts).



> I love this pairing, and loved your prompts, it was a treat to write this for you, Piscaria! Hope you enjoy :)

As the date of the wedding approached, the list of things to attend to seemed to grow of its own accord, faster even than Csevet’s practiced hand could scribe. The whole of the Unthelineise was in an uproar of preparation and anticipation. At times, negotiations between the Emperor’s household and the Ceredada reached military intensity. The kitchens were in an uproar at all hours of the day and night, Atterezh seemed on the verge of having a nervous breakdown, and Csevet himself was so busy that sometimes he felt as if he couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t remember when he’d last slept longer than four hours at a stretch. 

It was because of all this that Csevet didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary in Edrehasivar’s manner - the Emperor was as over-taxed as the rest of his household - until late one night, Maia said, “Stay, please? I have - we have a matter we hope to discuss with you.” 

Csevet, who had been gathering the last of his papers by lamp light and already thinking of bed, paused. His emperor’s tone was uncertain in a way that recalled those first few days and weeks of Edrehasivar’s reign, and Maia rarely slipped up with the formal first person any more. Csevet knew that he should not think of his emperor by his given name, but in the privacy of his own head he could not help the familiarity. Csevet’s loyalty would always be first to the earnest boy he had met in the middle of the night at Adonomee, and to the Ethuverazhid Zhas second. 

“What is it, Serenity?” he asked, setting down the stack of papers. 

The Emperor shifted in his chair like an uncertain child, glancing at his first nohecharei, who had taken their places for night duty hours previously. “It is… a delicate subject,” Maia said. 

“If we can assist you in any way,” Csevet began, “Your Serenity knows you need only ask and we are yours to command.” 

“No!” Maia exclaimed, so suddenly that everyone but Cala startled. “No,” he repeated, more softly, ears dipping low in embarrassment. “This is not something I - we could command. We could only ask and hope you know you have every right to refuse us.” 

Csevet felt his own brow furrowing and smoothed his expression back into impassivity. Edrehasivar’s discomfiture was making his own heart pound in sympathetic nerves. “We understand. In what way might we be of assistance?” 

Maia’s ears dipped even lower, and he squared his shoulders as if steeling himself for a fight. Csevet felt an ache in his chest, wishing Maia would never feel thusly in his presence. “As you know, our wedding is in ten days’ time. We… we have no experience in… carnal acts,” the words were bitten out brutally, “and we do not wish to… to hurt our wife, or offend her, through ignorance. So we would be grateful for any… advice you could offer us.” 

Csevet let out a breath, his own shoulders relaxing. “Of course, Serenity. It would be…”  _ an honor  _ was the wrong turn of phrase. “That is no trouble.” 

“Thank you,” Maia mumbled, and it  _ was  _ Maia, not Edrehasivar, in that moment. Emperors did not mumble. There was an expectant pause and Csevet realized Maia was waiting for him to begin. 

“Perhaps… not here?” he suggested. It was late, but the Tortoise Room was still a semi-public chamber. 

“Oh. Yes, of course.” Shoving back his chair, Maia stood, and Csevet was treated to the dream-like experience of following Edrehasivar through the halls of the Alcethmeret, back to his bedchamber. It was nothing he hadn’t done a thousand times before, accompanying the Emperor to his rooms when the duties of the day were not yet finished. But this time, Csevet did not have his arms full of papers, or his mind full of work. 

This was just another type of work, he scolded himself silently. The Emperor’s trust was a privilege, and Csevet would do his best to allay his fears. There was nothing prurient or indecent about it. 

Except that with the doors to the Imperial bedchamber closed behind him, it  _ felt  _ indecent. 

They were no more alone than they had been before, Cala and Beshelar standing by the balcony and the doors respectively, yet the soft lamps lit the swathes of silk and brocade on the enormous bed, and the whole room smelled overwhelmingly of Maia. Of the soap his edocharei washed him with, and the mild perfumes of the oils they worked into his hair to keep the wild curls smooth, and the faint, natural scent of his body, all together. Csevet would catch a breath of the heady combination sometimes, when he was leaning over Edrehasevar’s shoulder to read something, or point something out. In those moments, when his cock twitched guiltily, it was impossible to deny his interest. In those moments, and now. 

“Won’t you sit?” Maia asked. The bed was the only place to sit, and the sense of unreality deepened as Csevet settled himself on the edge of the sumptuous duvet. 

To focus himself, Csevet returned to his purpose. “What would you like to know, Serenity?” 

Maia shrugged helplessly. “It is like becoming Emperor. We don’t even know enough to ask for the knowledge we lack.” 

“From the beginning, then,” Csevet said. “After the ceremony and the feast, when you are alone with Dachos’min Ceredin, yes?”

“Please,” Maia said, and it made Csevet’s blood rush faster to hear. Maia said please often, far too often for an emperor, but here, in his bedchamber, in that soft, earnest voice, it was even more weighty than usual. 

“People usually begin by kissing,” Csevet said, and fought down the absurd urge to laugh. Maia did not deserve that, and it was more hysteria than amusement in any case. “Start slowly, with your lips closed, just brush them together. You may be holding her hands, or touching her waist or her cheek. Take your time. It is always better to proceed slowly, especially when both parties are… inexperienced.” 

One assumed, obviously, that noble women went to their marriage beds as virgins, although this wasn’t always strictly true. Csevet had heard some rumors about the circle of scholarly women that Dachos’min Ceredin frequented, but she would almost certainly be new to lying with a man. In any event, a little experience, even of that nature, could only be a help on their wedding night. “As you kiss, you can part your lips a little, use your tongue. Delicately. It is ungentlemanly to shove your tongue directly in someone’s mouth straight away.” 

Maia made a face. “It certainly sounds so.” 

Csevet allowed himself a smile. “Some people enjoy it. But it is an experiment for a more experienced night. Use your tongue just to tease at her lips and the tip of her tongue.” He thought about what else he wished someone had told him before his first kiss. “Don’t forget to breathe.” 

“How?” 

“Through your nose.”

Maia nodded, watching him seriously, and Csevet was reminded of instructing the younger couriers in their duties; of their studious attention. “Then what?” 

“Then you… explore one another.” His ears were hot and there was sweat damping his collar at the base of his neck. 

“Please, Csevet, do not use euphemisms in this, I cannot follow them,” Maia said, slipping into the informal. 

Csevet shook his head. “Apologies, Serenity. It is difficult to speak of frankly.” He cleared his throat, letting his Emperor’s title on his tongue ground them both. “We mean… if you wish your wife to take pleasure from your coupling, indeed, if you wish it not to hurt, then the secret is entirely in the preparation. The… consummation itself is the least part of the act, in some ways. She must be aroused before you begin.” 

“By the kissing?” 

“Yes. But every person is different. One must learn what particular caresses and words excite them. Hence, the exploration.” 

“What… things might one explore?” Maia asked. His slate-gray cheeks were dark with a blush.

“As you kiss, you begin by touching your partner all over. Anywhere you both wish to try. Gently to start, though some like it rougher.” 

“Anywhere?” Looking doubtful, Maia raised one hand to his own shoulder. “How is that carnal?”

“I could show you,” Csevet heard himself say, and then felt his stomach flip. He didn’t look at the nohecharei but he felt their attention sharpen. Maia was wide-eyed. The dim lamp-light of the room suddenly seemed horribly revealing. 

Csevet opened his mouth to apologize, to talk the words into something less blatantly a proposition, something he might say to a boy in a tavern or to another courier, words never to be uttered to his emperor, when Maia said, “Yes.” 

Csevet froze. “Yes?” he echoed. 

“If you meant in earnest,” Maia said hastily, looking a little alarmed. “I - we did not mean to…” 

“Yes,” Csevet said, interrupting him. “I meant in earnest.” He held out a hand and, hesitantly, Maia extended his own. The brush of their fingertips together sparked through Csevet’s body. Maia drew in a startled breath as Csevet dragged his fingers over Maia’s tender palm, and then pressed in a little over Maia’s wrist, where he could feel his pulse beating fast beneath his skin. Csevet’s own heartbeat was racing to match it. He slid his hand up Maia’s arm. The heavy, tightly laced brocade jacket of his daywear had been discarded and he wore only a loose shirt, that rode up easily to reveal the soft inside of his arm, the crook of his elbow. Maia shivered when Csevet touched him there, feather light. 

Maia’s lips were slightly parted, his eyes huge and fixed on Csevet with an expression that made Csevet dizzy. Everything in him was thrumming with wanting more, but he forced himself to draw his hand back from the addictive warmth of Maia’s skin. “Exploration,” he said, voice steady only with long practice. 

“I see,” Maia said, and his voice was not steady at all. 

“You can use your mouth, too,” Csevet found himself saying. It was good advice for lovemaking, but it felt obscene to say it out loud here, with Maia looking at him like that. As if he could ever ask such a thing of Edrehasivar… 

“Like this?” Maia picked up Csevet’s hand again and pressed his lips to the palm. Csevet couldn’t suppress a small gasp, and he heard Beshelar shift a little, by the door. 

“Like that,” Csevet whispered, and Maia dragged his mouth up, like Csevet had done with his hand, over his wrist and up his arm, lips dry and warm. Csevet’s breath was coming fast, face flushed and trousers undeniably tight. Maia was leaning into him, bent over, and Csevet helplessly put a hand on his head, fingers sinking into the thick curls that he’d imagined touching so many times. When the Emperor looked up, Csevet was cupping the base of his skull, and their faces were close together, 

“Serenity,” Csevet breathed, clinging onto shreds of dignity and control. 

“If thou dost not wish this,” Maia said, with the unexpected composure that he sometimes gathered in extremity, “we shall forget it ever happened. But if thou dost… please call me Maia.” 

In the silence, Csevet could hear Cala and Beshelar both breathing, or perhaps that was just the rush of blood in his ears. He swallowed, tongue wetting his lips. “Maia.” 

Maia let out a breath and smiled, a little shakily. “May I kiss thee?” 

They were already close enough that Csevet could see the texture of Maia’s gray eyes, like pebbles in a stream bed. He leaned in and closed the distance. 

Maia kissed awkwardly, clearly mindful of Csevet’s instruction and following it meticulously. Lips slightly parted, tongue delicate and uncertain. Csevet showed him by example how to gracefully tease someone’s mouth. He was lightheaded by the time Maia pulled back, and his cock ached in his trousers just from kissing. 

“Was that…?” Maia inquired, deliciously shy, and Csevet could only nod fervently. Maia’s answering smile made Csevet’s heart squeeze. “Where else dost like to be touched?”

“My ears,” Csevet admitted. “My neck.” 

Without hesitating, Maia lifted a hand and caressed the tip of Csevet’s left ear. A harsh shudder ran through his body, cock throbbing as Maia dragged his fingers down the sensitive ridge of his ear to the tender spot behind it, and then trailed further down his neck to the collar of his jacket. Maia was watching his reactions with a wrapt intensity that Csevet had seen before directed at matters of utmost importance. He thought he would be lucky to get through meetings of the Corezhas now, without getting hard. 

Maia kissed him again, and Csevet was too weak and prideful not to show off a little, nibbling and suckling at Maia’s lips, teasing him until he was moaning. They both panted into the kiss, bodies rubbing together through their clothes. The length of Maia’s cock pressed into Csevet’s sending delicious shivers through him with every roll of his hips. Csevet was aware of Cala and Beshelar watching, and had to admit the hot thrill that came from showing this to them. Proving how he could take the Emperor apart with just his mouth and his exploring hands. Maia shuddered when Csevet stroked down his sides, and bucked when Csevet gripped his hips to pull their groins together. 

Tossing his head back, Maia cried, “Wait, wait, stop!” and both nohecharei stepped forward abruptly, the temperature in the room dropping. 

Csevet drew his hand back instantly, alarmed. “Serenity?” 

Maia’s eyes were dilated black with pupil and his lips were swollen. “No. Only. I shall spend in a moment,” he said sheepishly, and Csevet’s shoulders eased. 

“It happens,” Csevet told him, kissing the tip of his ear. “A worthy partner would take it as a compliment.” He lowered his voice, speaking deliberately. “I should like to see thee spend.” 

“But what of… the rest of it?” Maia asked, and Csevet was jolted with the reminder that he was meant to be instructing the emperor. 

“I have not the anatomy to guide you much further. Men and women may pleasure one another with their hands or their mouths before copulating, but,” he gestured to his straining trousers, “I cannot help thee with the delicacies of a woman’s body.” 

Maia put a hand on Csevet’s thigh, looking up shyly through his lashes. “But of a man’s?” 

“Hast a body of thy own,” Csevet said weakly, even as his cock throbbed. 

“If it is not thy wish,” Maia began, drawing his hand back. 

“No! I mean, yes, it is my wish. Only it will not be of help to thee.” 

“I want to,” Maia murmured, and Csevet leaned in to kiss him again.

They unrobed each other, clumsy and careful and eager. It felt obscene to kneel naked in the center of the Emperor’s massive, silk-draped bed, with a silence audience. It felt doubly obscene when Maia took Csevet’s cock in his hand. 

He was more sure here, at least, and Csevet threw back his head, moaning at the firm grip, so he didn’t see when Maia bent his head, and had only the warning of a warm breath before he felt Maia’s tongue delicately tasting the tip of his cock. 

Csevet cried out, his whole body clenching, and a pulse of fluid leaking out of him. He gripped at Maia’s shoulder urgently. “Don’t -” 

Maia looked up. “Should I not…” 

“Yes, only,” Csevet laughed breathlessly, “now  _ I’m  _ about to spend.” 

“Some other time, then,” Maia said, and Csevet shuddered again. “I’ve heard…” he hesitated, blushing. “That men can couple as a man and a woman do? But I’ve heard it called undignified. Demeaning. I would not wish that, if it were so.” 

Csevet frowned. “Whoever spoke thus had a low opinion of marnei and no experience themselves. It is true that men can engage in intercourse, and it is not at all a degradation if both men are willing.” 

“Dost… I mean. Wouldst…” Maia couldn’t get the words out. 

“Shall I show thee?” Csevet asked, and Maia nodded, biting his lip. It was well-conceived, he told himself, a part of Maia’s instruction that would stand him in reasonably good stead on his wedding night. No matter that it was also pure self-indulgence on Csevet’s part. “We need something slick. An oil or salve. Women’s bodies produce a natural lubrication, but it can help to have an aid, especially if she is inexperienced.” 

“Right.” Maia sat back, casting around helplessly, and then looking up at the nohecharei. “Cala, would you… perhaps something in the bath?” 

“Yes, Serenity,” Cala murmured, and Csevet heard him move off across the room, heard the rustle of fabric and the clink of bottles behind the screen where the edocharei bathed the Emperor. Csevet lay back against the sumptuous pillows, trying to regain some composure. 

Cala returned with a small jar, laying it on the bedspread and retreating to his position by the window without looking at either of them direction. Maia’s face was colored deeply with blood, and his cockstand had softened a little, but he turned to Csevet with determination. “Show me?” 

Uncapping the jar, Csevet dipped his fingers in the grease, and rolled onto his stomach. He heard Maia draw a startled breath, and glanced up to gauge whether he had finally shocked his Emperor once too many times, but Maia’s gaze was hungry and intent. He slid two fingers easily into himself, arching his back a little. It was not as good as having someone else do it, but just the thought that he was preparing himself for Maia’s cock had him humping against the silk coverlet. 

“May I?” Maia asked. 

Csevet moaned into the fabric and nodded, withdrawing his own fingers, and feeling, after a moment, Maia’s skating uncertainly around the rim of his hole. “How do I…” 

“Here.” Csevet rolled on his back, so that he could see Maia, reaching down to guide his wrist. The slender, dark fingers that Csevet had so often stared at holding a pen or a cup of tea slid into him. 

“Does it hurt?” Maia’s lower lip was caught between his teeth. Csevet shook his head, and Maia continued, “I’ve heard… it hurts a woman, the first time.” 

“It need not, if she is aroused and her partner careful. Canst use another,” Csevet said, voice shaking a little. “A virgin would not be able to take it so fast, man or woman.” 

“Hast done this before?” 

“Yes.” His voice caught as Maia’s fingers shifted inside them. “Curl them - curl them up, toward thyself. Like - ah! Like that.” 

“It feels good?” Maia asked, and Csevet could only nod. There was a sweet ache inside him, the hunger to be filled. 

“Enough,” he gasped. “Canst put thyself in me now.” 

For a moment, Maia looked panicked, but Csevet squeezed his arm, the nearest part he could reach, and pulled his legs closer to his chest. “Get thy knees under me, yes like that. The angle will be different with a woman. Now… yes.” 

The head of Maia’s cock was blunt and warm against his hole. “It feels like it won’t…” 

“Just push,” Csevet grunted, past dignity, and then gasped as Maia did. 

“Art well?” Maia asked anxiously, the head of his cock throbbing inside Csevet’s body. 

“Yes. Yes.” Arching, Csevet wrapped his legs around Maia’s waist and urged him on. 

Maia’s first thrusts were clumsy and uneven. “Oh. Oh. That feels… is that…oh.” 

Csevet squirmed a little, changing the angle, hitching one knee above Maia’s hip so that his cock slid deeper. Maia squeaked. 

“Steady now,” Csevet managed. “Forward and back, not up and down.” 

“It’s… oh, it’s…” Maia’s mouth was open in ecstacy above him, dark curls falling into his eyes. It wasn’t near the most graceful fucking Csevet had ever had but his cock was leaking onto his stomach anyway. It had been so long since he’d had any lover, and he’d wanted Maia nearly as long. He imagined how they must look to Cala and Beshelar, pale limbs and dark ones, the Emperor’s uncertain thrusts, his obscene eagerness, Csevet writhing on his cock. 

He reached up to stroke Maia’s cheek, feeling the sweat dampening his hair, the labored puff of his breath as Csevet dragged his thumb over Maia’s lips. Maia’s tongue darted out against the pad of his thumb and Csevet shuddered, body clenching around Maia’s cock. The angle still wasn’t quite right, he needed more.

Grasping Maia’s hips, he pulled Maia toward him, putting the strength of his arms into exaggerating the thrusts. Maia yelped and clung to him, hair falling in his face. 

“I’m… I’m going to…” He gasped. 

Csevet wrapped one hand around his own cock, stroking it fiercely, still guiding Maia’s hips with the other. “Not yet. Just…” His cock was slick and ready, aching. 

“I can’t… please!” Maia’s hips stuttered, face screwed up helplessly. “I’m… I’m...!” 

Locking his knees around Maia’s waist, Csevet felt his Emperor throbbing deep inside him, his mouth open soundlessly as he reached his crisis, and Csevet spilled himself, all over his hand at the sight. 

Maia collapsed abruptly, and Csevet winced as his cock slid out of him with a stinging twinge. He made a noise and Maia looked up, wide eyed. “I’m sorry, did I -” He was flushed and rumpled, positively debauched. It made Csevet’s cock twitch with an aftershock just seeing him thus. 

“Be more easy with thy wife,” Csevet said, soothing the sting from the words with a kiss to Maia’s damp temple. “But I can take it.” 

Sighing sleepily, Maia shifted closer to him, curled against his side. Csevet allowed himself to wrap an arm around his Emperor’s shoulders and indulge in the fleeting fantasy that they really were lovers. 

“I didn’t know,” Maia murmured, “how it would make me feel close to thee.” 

Despite himself, Csevet chuckled. “Yes. That is part of the appeal.” 

“I want. I want to do it again.” 

“Your wedding is in ten days,” Csevet said, and glanced at the position of the moon, out the window, past the shape of Cala in the dark. “Nine.” Sweat and seed was beginning to cool, growing chill and clammy on his skin. 

He felt Maia react to the use of the formal first, stirring beside him. “Csevet…” Maia lifted his head, and Csevet looked at him reluctantly. His huge, gray eyes were solemn, and Csevet’s chest ached. “I wish… I knew when I asked this of thee, that I had feelings for thee, but I didn’t realize perhaps how deep they ran.” 

Csevet’s pulse leapt. “Feelings?” 

“Yes.” Maia held his gaze, and Csevet was struck for the thousandth time by how brave this young man was. Utterly new to this, and not even as old as Csevet, but so determined and earnest. Waiting gamely for Csevet to respond. 

Csevet swallowed, moved to unwise honesty. “I think I have been falling in love with thee since the first hour I laid eyes upon thee.” 

Maia’s eyes widened, and he ducked his head against Csevet’s shoulder. “It is unfair to thee, and to Csethiro to ask thee to begin something now. But…” 

“But?” Csevet prompted, heart beating thickly in his throat. 

“But it is common for the Emperor to take lovers, is it not?” Maia asked in a small voice, breath warm against Csevet’s bare skin. “Something the Zhasan would not object to? Might even welcome, if it meant her own freedom?” 

Csevet drew a deep breath, choosing his words carefully. Whatever he said or did, he could not advise the Emperor out of selfishness, not if there was a hope of a future between them. The nohecharei knew it too, and Csevet was burningly aware of them watching, their ears pricked for his response. “It is true that Dachos’min Ceredin likely has no expectation of fidelity in your marriage,” he said carefully, “but as to her personal feelings on the matter, that will necessarily be something to discuss with her yourself. While many emperors would not consider their wives’ opinions on who they took to bed, it would befit both your honor and your office to treat your Empress with dignity in this matter.” 

"I will." Maia pushed himself up again, hand on Csevet’s chest over his heartbeat. “And wilt thou wait? Till after the wedding, when I can speak with her more privately? I would have honesty with my wife, and with thee, for all our sakes, but I want... I hope..." He closed his eyes breifly, sooty lashes fluttering on slate cheeks. "Wilt wait, Csevet?”

Csevet’s ribs felt too tight, hope and fear burning together beneath his sternum. “Always.” Burying his fingers in his Emperor’s hair, he pulled Maia down for a kiss. 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are love!


End file.
